U.S. lags in math, science: What O.C.'s doing about it

Orange Lutheran High students Kailey Fox, left and Niki Khajeh are elated as they show their instructor a successful outcome from their lab test. The students performed a variety of lab experiments that use the latest biotech equipment to analyze genes and proteins. The two attend the Honors Molecular Genetics class at the school. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Struggling in science

Today's article continues a yearlong look by the Orange County Register into the challenges of providing STEM education – instruction in science, technology, engineering in math – to prepare students for the demands of the world's changing job markets.

Testing the world

PISA: Program for International Student Assessment is an international study launched in 2000 by the France-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. It aims to evaluate education systems worldwide every three years by assessing 15-year-olds' competencies in reading, mathematics and science. The data is used to assess the impact of educational quality on incomes and growth and to understand what causes differences in achievement across nations. More than 470,000 15-year-old students representing 65 nations and territories participated in 2009.

TIMSS: The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study is an international assessment developed by Netherlands-based International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement of the mathematics and science of fourth-graders and eighth-graders worldwide. More than 425,000 students from 35 countries participated in 2007. 2011 results are due out in December.

Orange Lutheran High School seniors Kailey Fox and Niki Khajeh shined an ultraviolet light over a bacteria sample, looking for a gene found in a particular species of jellyfish.

Under the light's glare, the gene's proteins began to emit a fluorescent glow, enabling the duo to isolate it; then, they meticulously placed test tube samples into a centrifuge to extract and purify the protein.

The lesson is part of the private school's molecular genetics honors class, believed to be the first of its kind high school course in Orange County, and perhaps the state.

But, as rare and innovative as the class seems, it wouldn't even raise eyebrows in a number of other nations – the ones that routinely shame America in international math and science tests.

For example, South Korean seventh-graders learn quadratic functions, and polynomial and linear equations, two years ahead of the typical American student. In Finland, students begin learning chemistry and biology concepts through experimentation, observation and theoretical models as early as the fifth grade.

Other issues play a part in America's lagging performance on international tests, but the disparity in curriculum looms large as a major factor behind a coast-to-coast drive for better instruction in science, technology , engineering and math, known as STEM subjects.

"We have a systematic problem in producing students who want to pursue STEM careers. We are losing a whole generation while other countries pass us by," said Santa Ana High physics teacher Gary Reynolds, a former environmental researcher.

"Furthering STEM education is one of the most important priorities we should have as a nation."

Reynolds is part of the movement to improve STEM education efforts – a goal that has found its way into the new nationwide education standards known as the common core.

But even though these efforts could improve America's performance, the nation's sheer size and diversity makes it impossible to create an educational system that surpasses the highest achieving countries.

"We don't have enough resources in this country to make every school spotless. We have students who can compete with anyone in the world, but we also have students who struggle just to learn English and math," said James Brown, executive director of the STEM Education Coalition, which works with educators, business leaders and policy makers to promote science and math initiatives nationally.

"As a country, our priority should be to create enough qualified workers to fill the demand set by industry. Right now, we're not close to meeting that goal."

MIRED IN MEDIOCRITY

The United States muddles in the middle in a series of international comparisons in science and math. America's students ranked 23rd in science and 31st in math in the latest ranking of 65 nations from the Program for International Student Assessment, which measures literacy in math, science and reading among 15-year-olds.

Another assessment, Trends in International Math and Science Study, ranks U.S. students between 11th and 17th in fourth- and eighth-grade science and math among the top 35 industrialized nations. PISA was last assessed in 2009; TIMSS results are from 2007.

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Orange Lutheran High students Kailey Fox, left and Niki Khajeh are elated as they show their instructor a successful outcome from their lab test. The students performed a variety of lab experiments that use the latest biotech equipment to analyze genes and proteins. The two attend the Honors Molecular Genetics class at the school. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Honors engineering students Michaela Strasser, left, and Lauren Byrne develop a paddlewheel and lift apparatus for their robot. The Orange Lutheran High teammates are hoping to compete in the international VEX Robotics competition. Last season, the school fielded a team of students that competed at a world event in Anaheim. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Stella Cho gives Mac Egan a strong whiff of a culture as they try to differentiate two types of proteins within the bacteria they were studying. The Orange Lutheran High School students are in the Honors Molecular Genetics class. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Orange Lutheran High students Kailey Fox, left and Niki Khajeh transfer liquid cultures between test tubes during an Honors Molecular Genetics class at the school. They has successful outcomes from their lab tests. The goal was to purify a specific protein. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Orange Lutheran High School Honors Engineering students Michael Caskey, Jake Henigman and Garrett Vetter incorporate an elevator with forklift device for their robot entry in the upcoming international VEX Robotics competition. Last season, the school fielded a team of students that competed at a world event in Anaheim. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Orange Lutheran High School juniors get hands-on experience building a robot for competition in the international VEX Robotics contest. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Honors engineering student Carl Lejerskar, center, and his Orange Lutheran High teammates, build a lift for a robot that they hope to compete with in the international VEX Robotics competition. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Students Kylee Borger, Ashley Stone, Alexandra Springer and Rachel Hemsley, from left, listen as instructor Jill Ronstadt explains a lesson. Ronstadt teaches the Honors Molecular Genetics class at Orange Lutheran High School. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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